Many papers on Artemisia annua and its main compound, artemisinin, address cancer treatment, including reviews, preclinical studies, and early clinical trials. The literature consistently reports anticancer activities, including inhibiting proliferation, inducing apoptosis, blocking angiogenesis, and reversing drug resistance.
Examples of relevant papers
Bottom line
The retrieved papers show a substantial body of research on artemisinin/Artemisia-derived compounds in cancer, with the strongest evidence so far coming from cell and animal studies, plus small early clinical studies rather than large definitive cancer trials.
References
Firestone, G.L., Sundar, S.N. (2009) Anticancer activities of artemisinin and its bioactive derivatives. Expert Reviews in Molecular Medicine. https://doi.org/10.1017/S1462399409001239
Wong, Y.K., Xu, C., Kalesh, K.A., (...), Wang, J. (2017) Artemisinin as an anticancer drug: Recent advances in target profiling and mechanisms of action. Medicinal Research Reviews. https://doi.org/10.1002/med.21446
Crespo-Ortiz, M.P., Wei, M.Q. (2012) Antitumor activity of artemisinin and its derivatives: From a well-known antimalarial agent to a potential anticancer drug. Journal of Biomedicine and Biotechnology. https://doi.org/10.1155/2012/247597
Slezakova, S., Rudá-Kučerová, J. (2017) Anticancer activity of artemisinin and its derivatives. Anticancer Research. https://doi.org/10.21873/anticanres.12046
Krishna, S., Ganapathi, S., Chis-Ster, I.C., (...), Kumar, D. (2015) A Randomised, Double Blind, Placebo-Controlled Pilot Study of Oral Artesunate Therapy for Colorectal Cancer. EBioMedicine. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ebiom.2014.11.010
Jansen, F.H., Adoubi, I., Comoe, K., (...), Efferth, T. (2011) First study of oral artenimol-R in advanced cervical cancer: Clinical benefit, tolerability and tumor markers. Anticancer Research. https://www.scopus.com/pages/publications/84855171058